IPL 2020 | CSK batsmen let the bowlers down today, reckons MS Dhoni

Opting to bat first, KKR got off to a good start with a changed opening pair in the form of Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill. Apart from Tripathi, who scored a brilliant 51-ball 81, no one else was able to cross the even 17. Dinesh Karthik surprised everyone with his decision to send Sunil Narine at number 4, which ended as a failure as he got out for 17. For CSK, Karn Sharma was the pick of the bowlers as he ended with the figures of 1/25. 

In reply, CSK were cruising towards the target at one point of time with Ambati Rayudu, who scored 27-ball 30, and Shane Watson, who scored 40-ball 50, on the crease. However, their momentum was broken by Kamlesh Nagarkoti as he picked up the wicket of Rayudu. After that wickets kept falling at regular intervals and KKR won the match by 10 runs. 

CSK skipper MS Dhoni pointed out that the middle overs, where KKR made a comeback, was the reason for their loss. He praised his bowlers for keeping things under control but felt that his batsmen had let him down. 

“In the middle overs, there was a phase where they bowled 2-3 good overs. If we batted better and didn't lose 2-3 wickets in a row. We should've been careful in the first 5-6 overs,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation. 

“Curran was really good with the ball, and I think we did well in general with the ball, but the batsmen let the bowlers down today. Rotation of strike was important, but I think there were hardly any boundaries in the final few overs, so we need to be innovative at the end when they are continuously hitting a back of a length. That's where we need to adapt better with the bat and I don't think we did that.”